Down By the River
by Wolfspirit of SunriseClan
Summary: A FirexMisty oneshot. Stressed out by the prophecy and his new responsibilities as leader, Firestar takes a walk to Sunningrocks to clear his head. There he meets an old friend who gives him some peace of mind. Takes plakes place during The Darkest Hour.


Hi guys! I absolutely adore MistyxFire, and I've always wanted to write a fanfic about them. Now don't get me wrong; I love FirexSand too. I just happen to like this pairing better. ;) It's pure crack, but who cares? XD

This idea just randomly came to me today, and it's nothing special, but I hope you like it. It's just a short, sweet, fluffy oneshot that takes place during The Darkest Hour. :) I might write another MistyxFire story that's AU and NOT a oneshot, so keep watch for that.

Without further adieu:

**Down By the River:**

With so much on his mind, Firestar needed to get out of the ThunderClan camp. His thoughts were constantly plagued with images of Bluestar's death, her sacrifice, the impending battle he knew would come sooner or later, Tigerstar's evil plot to rule the forest, and the leadership of the inexperienced Leopardstar. The great RiverClan leader, Crookedstar, had died not too long ago, and his successor was an ambitious she-cat with a bitter grudge toward ThunderClan.

Sudden fear for his RiverClan friends, Stonefur and Mistyfoot, shot through Firestar like an icy wave. The secret that they were Bluestar's kits was no longer a secret. Leopardstar knew, as did the whole of RiverClan. What did Leopardstar think of Stonefur and Mistyfoot now, knowing they had the blood of the Clan that she so hated? Did she trust them? Did she still trust Stonefur enough to be her deputy? And what about Mistyfoot?

_No don't think about Mistyfoot,_ Firestar growled to himself. He hated the way he constantly thought about Mistyfoot. He quite liked the young RiverClan warrior. He liked her courage, strength, intelligence, and skill. He liked the way her voice sounded, authorative but soft and calm, like still water on a Greenleaf day. He liked her thick, blue-gray pelt, so much like he mothers, as well as her sky-blue eyes and the way her muscles rippled gracefully under her slender body.

_Stop thinking about her!_ Firestar growled to himself more forcefully. _Sandstorm's your mate remember? And you're the ThunderClan leader. You can't love a she-cat from another Clan!_ Hating himself, Firestar also couldn't help thinking about Spottedleaf. It was bad enough that he had betrayed her by loving Sandstorm, but to love Mistyfoot as well?

"Spottedleaf, I'm sorry," Firestar whispered into the rising sun. Golden rays of light filtered through the leaf-less trees and turned his orange pelt to flame. His forest green eyes shone with sorrow as he padded on with his head down. He loved Spottedleaf and Sandstorm, he truly did, but he felt the greatest love for Mistyfoot. The first time Firestar had met her, it had been to question her about the Battle of Sunningrocks and to uncover the truth about Redtail's death. She hadn't known this, of course, and she had light-heartedly teased him. Ever since then, Firestar and Mistyfoot had become great friends. As time went on, they saw each other at Gatherings and on occassional border patrols. The feelings of friendship had begun to blossom into love, but Firestar had not known it. Now he did.

His weary paws brought him to Sunningrocks, a place where he often came to think. Firestar began to relax on one of the gray stone boulders, when suddenly; he was blasted with the fresh scent of a RiverClan cat. Flexing his muscles and unsheathing his claws, Firestar leapt off the rock and let out a battle cry.

He froze when he saw Mistyfoot on the other side of the river. She had been staring intently at the water in front of her, but now her head was lifted and her eyes were blazing a blue fire.

"Firestar!" she spat at him. "You scared off this huge fish that would've fed half my Clan! You dumb fiery furball!"

Firestar found that he couldn't move. With a twinge of concern, he noticed that Mistyfoot was looking thinner than usual, but she was as beautiful as ever. Her thick, blue-gray fur was freshly groomed and shining like dew on a blade of grass, and her eyes were so beautiful as they continued to blaze with fury.

"I-I'm s-sor-rry," he stammered awkwardly, looking down at his paws." I-I thought you were a RiverClan warrior on my territory."

"It's okay." Mistyfoot's voice had softened with understanding. "I would've done the same."

Firestar glanced up at her. Mistyfoot's eyes were shining with wicked amusement. "But I won't let you get off that easily," she added, reaching out a paw and sinking her claws gently into Firestar's shoulder. Before Firestar could ask her what she meant, he felt himself being flipped over and thrown into icy cold water. Splashing with his paws, Firestar emerged heartbeats later. His eyes were wide with shock, and he spu n his head around to see Mistyfoot gazing at with with amusement in her blue eyes.

"Hey!" he gasped, indignantly. "That was a dirty trick!"

Letting out a _mrrrrow_ of laughter, Mistyfoot reached down and gently grasped Firestar's scruff in her teeth. Her scent of cool water, fish, and crisp reeds flooded his scent glands, and he felt his fur tingle.

"Well," Mistyfoot purred, "it looks like I did catch a fish after all. A big, flame-colored fish, that is!"

"Alright," Firestar growled with mock irritation. "You've had your fun. But it's your turn now!" With that he gently grabbed Mistyfoot's shoulders with his paws and pushed her into the river.

"Hey, no fair!" Mistyfoot meowed in mock anger.

"Who said I was fair?" Firestar purred teasingly, and he leaped into the water with her. The two cats, dignity forgotten, began to play fight. For one blissful moment, Firestar forgot all his responsibilties as Clan leader. He felt like an apprentice again, playing with Graystripe and Ravenpaw.

Mistyfoot suddenly stiffened, and Firestar was jolted back to reality. Leaping to her paws, Mistyfoot sprang into the air with her powerful back legs. With one swipe of her paw, she caught a fish.

"Great catch!" Firestar called. Mistyfoot acknowledged him and proudly climbed out of the water with her head held high.

Firestar climbed out and went to stand next to her. "That was great," he said again. "Can you show me how to catch a fish?"

"I'd be happy to," Mistyfoot purred eagerly. Crouching down by the bank, she motioned for Firestar to do the same. Crouching down close to her-a little too close-their pelts brushed. Firestar felt his fur tingle again, and to his surprise Mistyfoot didn't seem to notice or care. A fish was swimming in their direction.

"When the fish is in front of you, try to catch it with your front paw and bite its neck so it doesn't get away," Mistyfoot instructed softly.

As soon as the fish was practically under his nose, Firestar hooked it with his claws and bit down on his neck.

"Great job!" Mistyfoot purred. "You wouldn't make a bad RiverClan warrior, that's for sure. Wanna share?" she meowed, motioning to the fish.

Feeling a surge of pleasure that almost knocked him off his paws, Firestar said, "Yes, thank you very much." The two cats crouched down to eat, pelts brushing again. "You know, Firestar meowed, flicking the blue-gray she-cat on the ears with his tail. "You wouldn't make a bad ThunderClan warrior either."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Firestar knew he had said the wrong thing. Mistyfoot sat up and turned her head away.

_You stupid cat!_ Firestar hissed to himself. Of course what he said would be a painful reminder to Mistyfoot that she was half-ThunderClan! _Stupid, stupid, stupid! Now she'll never want to talk to you again!_

"Mistyfoot, I'm sorry," Firestar mewed in dismay. Mistyfoot looked up at him, and their eyes-blue and green-met. Firestar just gazed hungrily into blue pools of sadness, seeing great sorrow there. He felt mesmerized, as if he could stare into those eyes forever.

Mistyfoot looked at him uneasily, as if she were uncomfortable confiding in a cat from another Clan. "Oh Firestar!" Mistyfoot mewed. "Ever since Stonefur revealed the truth about our parentage, RiverClan doesn't trust us anymore. Leopardstar's been keeping her eye on us, Stonefur can't even get the apprentices to listen to him half the time, some of our Clanmates glare at us, and some won't even talk to us. On top of that, Leopardstar has let ShadowClan warriors into our camp!"

"What?" Firestar yowled in outrage. "Can she even do that?"

Mistyfoot shrugged. "She says that joining together with ShadowClan will make us stronger. And my mate, Blackclaw..." she broke off.

"What about Blackclaw?" Firestar growled angrily, more angry about Blackclaw than was necessary.

" He agrees with her, and I don't. We disagree about everything nowadays. It seems like he doesn't want anything to do with me anymore," Mistyfoot mewed bitterly. "After Leopardstar told the Clan, we went for a walk and he told me that he couldn't trust me anymore, that he wanted a "loyal" mate."

"But you are loyal!" Firestar hissed, "and any cat that says otherwise is a mousebrain." Inside, he was seething with rage. He wanted nothing more than to rip Blackclaw's fur off. Didn't he realize how lucky he was to have Mistyfoot as a mate? Didn't he realize that Firestar would do anything to be in his place? Of course he didn't.

"I told him that it was fine with me," Mistyfoot spat defiantly. "I told him that it was his loss, not mine."

"Good for you," Firestar murmured, reaching forward to lick the top of her head. Suddenly, he found that he could not stop. Purring, he continued to lick her with fierce love. At first, Mistyfoot drew back startled, then relaxed and leaned into his muscular, flame-colored body. Their tails twined, and the two cats nuzzled each other tenderly while purring in contentment.

"Blackclaw's got bees in his brain," Firestar whispered in her ear. Mistyfoot glanced at him, then rasped her tongue against his cheek. Firestar closed his eyes, lost in the moment.

"I love you Mistyfoot," Firestar murmured, cheek pressed against hers. Mistyfoot purred, rubbing her head under his chin.

"I love you too Firestar," Mistyfoot purred back. "I've loved you for a long time now."

Rubbing heads again, the two cats twined their bodies, lost in each other. A bird cried out an alarm just then, and Firestar snapped out of his blissful trance. Jerking his head up in alarm, he noticed that the sun was high in the sky now. He had to get back to ThunderClan! Crossing the river so that he was on his territory again, he clambored out of the water and shook water droplets from his fur. What had he done? He had gone too far!

"Firestar, wait!" Mistyfoot pleaded. "Don't go!"

"I have too," Firestar told her gently. "I love you so much, Mistyfoot, but I have to go. It hurts me to leave you, but we can't be together, I'm sorry."

"But we _can_ be together!" Mistyfoot gasped in pain. "We can find a way," she added desperately, so much unlike her usual calm and sensible self.

"There is no way Mistyfoot," Firestar mewed wretchedly. Each word hurt him more than any wound he had ever received in battle.

"We can leave the Clans!" Mistyfoot mewed, eyes shining with a desperate hope. "We can go somewhere, away from all this. No more Tigerstar, no more ShadowClan, no more hostile glares, no more hunger, no more pain, sorrow or betrayal. Just you and me."

For a couple of heartbeats, Firestar's heart raced with excitement. He would love nothing more than to escape his responsibilities and be with the she-cat he loved more than life itself. He was tempted to jump up and say yes, but he knew he had to do what was right.

"No Mistyfoot. It would never work out," he mewed. "Besides," he added. "Could we both really leave all this behind?"

When Mistyfoot didn't answer, Firestar went on, "I must go back to ThunderClan and you must go back to RiverClan. There are dark times ahead, and there might be a great battle yet to come. Both our Clans need us. RiverClan needs a strong warrior like you to help them through whatever is to come, and ThunderClan needs me to lead them through their darkest hour.

"I know," Mistyfoot murmured in defeat. "It just hurts so much."

"I know," Firestar mewed back comfortingly. "But we mustn't abandon our Clans."

"Good-bye Firestar," Mistyfoot whispered. "I love you, and nothing will change that."

"I love you too," Firestar meowed back tenderly. "We will be together one day in StarClan, and there will be no boundaries between us."

Padding back to the ThunderClan camp with his head down, Firestar knew deep in his heart that he had done the right thing. _I just hope it's worth it in the end,_ he thought.

* * *

**There you have it! A FirexMisty oneshot. :) Reviewplz. **


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